This invention relates to equipment generally useful in a broad variety of crafts and hobbies, such as automobile, aircraft and train model building, jewelry crafting, leather crafting, decoupage, whittling, ceramicast and assembling electronic kits. When such crafts and hobbies are practiced, they usually employ a number of tools and a variety of parts and other materials and normally require a surface upon which to work, such as a table. Such crafts or hobbies are frequently pursued at home by children and adults who have no work area available in the home specifically for their craft or hobby. Consequently, they often utilize the kitchen table, dining room table or other household furniture for that purpose.
Many crafts or hobbies involve the use of glues, paints or other chemicals, while others involve cutting, pinning or burning. When such crafts or hobbies are performed on household tables and furniture, the table top or furniture finish may be damaged thereby, unless protected with papers, cardboard or other materials. In addition, when used in the conventional manner, many crafts and hobbies involve considerable clutter, which must be gathered up and moved frequently, for example, at family meal time or similar occasion. Moreover, when papers, cardboard or other materials are used to protect the table top or furniture finish from damage, this merely adds to the clutter of materials which must be cleaned up and moved each time.
Many persons may desire to practice such crafts or hobbies while traveling away from home. However, in view of the above problems no practical way has been known for the traveler to persue crafts or hobbies while conveniently protecting the tables or other furniture in the hotel, motel or guest home in which he resides when traveling, and conveniently transporting all associated tools, materials and parts from one location to another.